Month: June 2019

It’s time for another summer reading list, this time the 7 year old version. Beatrice is a strong reader, but doesn’t read nearly as much as her sisters. She would rather be playing with her younger sister. She also really enjoys being read aloud to. She also enjoys reading picture books to her younger sister.

1. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood – This is a newly published book. We first borrowed it from the library, but she loved it so much we decided to purchase it. It has lovely illustrations to go with each Mr. Rogers’ poem.

2. Weird School – The other two girls have loved these books as well. There are tons in the series and the titles always rhyme, such Miss Daisy is Crazy and Mr. Sunny is Funny.

3. Mercy Watson – A cute pig who becomes like a child to Mr. and Mrs. Watson. He is always up to something funny. These books have lots of pictures, which Beatrice always loves.

4. Princess in Black – The princess in black is a regular princess who sneaks out a trap door, puts on her disguise, and goes rescue someone.

5. Be Quiet – This is a picture book we recently discovered and fell in love with. The first time Matt and I both read it we were both laughing out loud, along with the kids. It’s definitely a keeper and one we added to our home library.

6. Mr. Putter & Tabby – Mr. Putter and his favorite friendly cat, Tabby, are a fun beginning reader book. They have pictures, but longer passages of text.

7. Bird & Squirrel – These are a series of short graphic novel about a scaredy squirrel and a bird who doesn’t have a care in the world. These are relatively short, but she enjoys them.

8. Kylie Jean – Kylie Jean is a newish series about a little girl who lives in Texas and wants to be the queen of everything. She learns lots of lessons along the way. Beatrice has read a few of these so far and just picked up Summer Camp Queen today.

9. Dog Man — Eloise really loved these books and now Beatrice has been reading them over and over. They are a graphic novel series by the author of Captain Underpants.

What are your 7 year olds favorite books?

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Last year we made summer reading lists of some of the girls’ favorite books, and this year we have some new lists. Next up is Felicity’s list. Felicity just finished up preschool and is a non reader. She doesn’t really have the attention span for chapter books yet, although we will try again this summer, so it’s lots of favorite picture books on her list. Here is her list from last year if you are looking for some other books in the 4-5 year old range.

1. Hula Hoop Queen – This has been a favorite of just about every member of the family for a while around here. After checking it out of the library several times, we purchased it. Kameeka loves to hoop with her friends and hopes to become the hula hoop queen of her block, but first she must help her mom prepare for a party.

2. Charlotte the Scientist – Charlotte is tired of being squished in between all of these siblings. She just wants her own space. After an experiment, she learns that maybe she does like being squish, but just needs a break sometimes.

3. Lola Dutch – Lola Dutch is just a little too much. She is full of big ideas and has her friend Bear along for the ride.

4. Wordy Birdy – Wordy Birdy talks A LOT, and sometimes that gets him into trouble, but as we see in the second book, sometimes talking all the time can be a good thing.

5. Mother Bruce – Both Beatrice and Felicity wanted Be Quiet on their list, but I was able to convince Felicity to add some of Ryan T. Higgins other books, which are just as loved here. Mother Bruce (and the other books in the collection) is about a Bear who suddenly becomes a mother to some baby geese. No matter how hard he tries, they just won’t leave him alone.

6. Hello Lighthouse – This was the Caldecott winner this year and it is just so lovely. The pictures are beautiful and we love the story of a lighthouse keeper and his family.

7. The Bear’s Song – There are several books in this series as well and Felicity loves them all. One they are oversized books, which is always fun. Two, you have to find the bear on each page and sometimes he is quite hard to find. We have checked these out from the library several times.

8. Storm Whale in winter – This is the second book in the series, but the first we read and it’s a lovely story about a whale who rescues a boy out at sea. I love the illustrations!

9. Dandy – Dandy is the story of a dandelion that is very loved by a little girl, but not so much by her father, who is after the perfect lawn. This is a great book for dads and about a dad’s love for his children.

10. Lambslide – This books has lovely illustrations by Robin Preiss Glassner, who also illustrates Fancy Nancy, so the illustrations are of course beautiful and detailed. A little lamb learns how to go about convincing his farmers to build a lambslide.

Do you have other books to recommend for 5 year olds?

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Last year we made summer reading lists of some of the girls’ favorite books, and this year we have some new lists. Next up is Eloise’s list. Eloise is finishing up 3rd grade and is a voracious reader. There is no way I can keep up with her. She tends to enjoy more fiction than anything and mostly will chose different books from her sister. Most often if I suggest something she isn’t that interested and many of the things she loves aren’t my cup of tea. But I mostly let her pick what she wants to read. Here is her list from last year if you are looking for some other books in the 8-9 year old range.

1. Series of Unfortunate Events – Greta started this series but didn’t stick with it because it got too scary, but Eloise has loved it. She is on book 11 of 13. Matt describes it as being pretty dark at times. Three orphans are trying to figure out how their parents died, but they often run into bad luck.

2. Cupcake Club – In the first book a Cupcake Club is created at school and each subsequent book focuses on one club member and some problem they are dealing with. I think there are 11 books in this series.

3. Land of Stories – Greta has this on her list as well. I will say that I bought the first book in the series years ago for Greta and she wasn’t interested in it. Then I suggested it to Eloise this year and she loved it (she tends to love fairy tale type stories), so then Greta had to try it.

4. Whatever After – Siblings have a magic mirror that transports them into fairy tale lands, but they accidentally mess up the story. There are 13 books in this series so far.

5. Who Was – These are biographies that are very popular with younger grades. I love that they are making biographies to accessible and enjoyable for kids.

6. Thea & Geronimo Stilton – This was on her list last year as well and she still loves them and continues to read any new ones our library gets in (there are tons of books in this series). We will also be visiting other libraries in our county system this year and I’m sure she will grab more.

7. Weird but True – These are books by National Geographic that contain tons of pictures and facts. Both the older two love these books and spouting off endless random facts to us.

8. The Critter Club – A couple of girls who love animals and save animals and help them get back to health.

9. Big Nate – A hilarious series about a middle school kid who gets lots of detentions.

10. Because of Winn Dixie – Everything changes for 10 year old Opal when she meets Winn Dixie (a dog). Eloise recently joined a book club and this was the first book she read. It had been sitting on our shelves for years and she never picked it up, so I’m glad that she was encouraged to read it.

Do you have other books to recommend for 9 year olds?

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Last year we made summer reading lists of some of the girls’ favorite books, and this year we have some new lists. First up is Greta’s list. Greta is finishing up 5th grade and is a voracious reader. There is no way I can keep up with her. She likes a variety of books, including books above her grade level and below. Any good story will do! Here is her list from last year if you are looking for some other books in the 10-11 year old range.

1. Chasing Vermeer – Petra and Calder try to solve a mystery without getting killed. Greta loved the codes and clues in the pictures in the book.

2. Land of Stories – A set of twins falls into a fairy tale world and has to defeat the evil there. This is a six book series and each book is pretty sizable.

3. The Sports Beat – Two kids are chosen as winners of a sports writing contest and get to solve sports mysteries.

4. Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales – Graphic novels about history told by Nathan Hale. These books bring history to life in an exciting and sometimes humorous way.

5. Sisters 8 – Eight year old octuplet ‘orphans’ use their powers that they gain throughout the series to get their parents back safely. This is an eight book series.

6. Click – Graphic novel about a girl who does not know where she belongs in the talent show.

7. Zlata’s Diary/ Anne Frank – Both girls grow up during a war and keep a diary, so they are similar, but one takes place in the 1990s and one in the 1940s.

8. Cilla Lee Jenkins – A girl who wants to be a writer details her experience at school. This is so far a three book series, but Greta thinks there will be more.

9. Mr. Lemoncello – Mr. Lemoncello is an eccentric inventor who creates a library for kids in his hometown. Kids get invited to the library to play games that Mr. Lemoncello has invented. So far this is a four book series.

10. Nick & Tesla – Twins are sent to live with their eccentric inventor uncle. They solve science related mysteries. This is a six book series.

11. Ban this Book – A shy girl speaks up and forms a secret banned book library when her favorite book is banned from the school library.

Any recommendations for her to try? What do your 11 year olds love to read?

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